Kiso Suzuki Electric Guitars: Les Paul copy Front

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Les Paul copy Front

2 comments:

KennyJ said...: At last I have found a Suzuki LP.
I have owned a sunburst one for years.
Better than most Gibson LP.
Love it.
Don't know the year.
Was bought as a lawsuit LP.
Best,
Ken; December 7, 2015 at 7:00 AM
KennyJ said...: One of these days I'll post a picture.
The color and inlays on mine are as good as it gets.; December 7, 2015 at 7:11 AM

Some history of Kiso Suzuki ...

Kiso Suzuki is the name of a now-defunct guitar company from the Kisofukushima region of Japan. This region is well known for it's mountains and trees, and the lure of the region with it's valuable lumber brought craftsman to the area - one such interest was, of course, guitar-making.Kiso Suzuki and Nagoya Suzuki were one company before the war - a 3-factory company started by Masakichi Suzuki that produced the well-known "Suzuki Violin" violins. But after the war the company was split up into the Suzuki Violin Company (now Kiso Suzuki Violin Company) and Suzuki Violin Manufacturing Company (now Nagoya Suzuki Violin Company). And there the relationship ended.

Kiso Suzuki apparently then became a manufacturer of guitars in 1951 and worked with other distributors and trading companies to manufacture guitars for not only the Japanese market but also for the overseas market. Some notable companies/names under which Kiso Suzuki distributed guitars: Iwama Trading; CSL Gypsy; Tomson; Kansas; Takeharu; Halifax; and possibly many more. They also made some mandolins, cellos, and violins.

One of the divisions/brands was Takeharu, which was a collaboration between Kiso Suzuki and a famous composer, Yamamoto Takeharu...(see www.takeharuguitars.blogspot.com).